Reading Gordon Ramsay’s 3 star chef, I was immediately struck by this dish. Lobster just happens to be one of my favourite items in the world, along with salmon and prawns. Gordon’s ravioli of Lobster and Langoustine is one of his signature dishes and indeed appeared on the menu when I dined. I didn’t choose it as I wasn’t ordering from that menu *sniff sniff*.

I adapted the recipe to feature smoked salmon as I got my greedy paws on some deliciously perfect smoked salmon slices. Yes I’m one of those greedy sods who can eat packets of the stuff and still hold my hand out for more. I have made ravioli before using Chinese won ton wrappers but thought that I’d give making the saffron pasta a go. I hadn’t meant to, to be honest. I actually bought a so called “Fresh lasagne sheets” from the Supermarket but when it came to cutting out the circles and pressing them together, the pasta was hardish and wouldn’t stick together no matter how hard I tried or begged or pleaded of it. So despite not having a pasta machine, I was determined not to let this delicious filling go to waste and set about making the saffron pasta dough with a rolling pin.

It’s not impossible, in fact it can be done using a rolling pin although using a pasta machine would be a better way to salvaging your sanity. All you have to remember is when you think you have it thin enough, you don’t. Keep rolling until it is so thin that it is on the verge of breaking and you can see light through it. Of course if you had a pasta maker it would be markedly easier.

The actual filling is a quite easy although it does require a bit of fridge time every now and then, but the good news is that you can make it a day ahead. He suggests serving it with a soup which you could, I actually served it with a light Japanese sesame dressing as I looked at it as a gigantic dumpling (which I’m sure would simply horrify Gordon). I just didn’t have the energy to make up a clear seafood soup after spending an hour as a human pasta machine.

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I was watching Nigella Feasts on DVD and I came across her making this salad which prompted me to sit up and take notice (yes I love watching TV while lying in bed) . The item that pricked my interested was the Pomegranate Molasses as I have a cute little bottle it, mostly unused as I don’t have that many recipes to use it with. Despite it’s name, Pomegranate Molasses is not as sweet as regular molasses, rather it has a tangy jolt to it. It also happened that I had a freshly cut 1/2 a lemon, a bunch of parsley and some nuts in my fridge as well as a packet of Burgul in the cupboard. You see I simply had to make it because I had everything present.

In the theme of using neglected items, I used my oft neglected mezzaluna for this salad. I bought one as I saw Nigella using it and thought that it sounded wonderful but it has sat in my cupboard for most of its life as I dislike the idea of washing more utensils than necessary. I figured that since I was making a Tabouli shortly afterwards then the bother of washing it would be justified with its two dish use.

Pomegranate Molasses jug-pretty isn’t it?

The salad itself is a curious mixtures of sweet cracked wheat with herbs. I originally had it without honey, the way that Nigella gives the recipe, but my husband and I felt that it was just too tangy with the lemon juice and pomegranate molasses. She originally includes dried barberries but since I had never heard of these I used the Iranian Green sultanas that I had. It’s also delicious for breakfast, as a grain it reminds me of porridges and cereals. As for the settings, it’s one of my favourites, a Vera Wang design called Lace Platinum. Not quite Middle Eastern but a design I think lends a certain prettiness to this already pink, green and golden accented salad.

I am also taking this chance to respond to some long overdue tags, awards and memes from four lovely bloggers, SalutetoSanity, A Spoonful of Sugar, Snookydoodlecakes and A Duck in Her Pond. As for 6 random facts about myself let me think…

1. I love ziplock bags. There’s nothing like slipping a brand new one out of the box and using it.

2. Two sites that make me laugh for entirely different reasons are: I canhascheezburger.com and dlisted.com

3. I cannot tell a joke-ever. I kill it

4. I also wonder if TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) is in fact, cardboard

5. I always have problems with the anti spam word verification where I need to write down the string of letters or numbers. I usually have to try it 2-3 times or do it slowly with 1 finger typing in each character. Conveniently, I am ignoring the fact that it suggests that I cannot follow simple instructions…

6. I find it weird when at the end of Dr Phil, he walks off with Robin. It’s just weirdly uncomfortable and they both look like can’t wait to escape his audience (which they probably can’t). An emergency airlift by helicopter would be more subtle.

And now I am off to tag 6 other bloggers. I thought I’d do one with a newer blogger bias (blogs starting this year), just to spread the love! In no particular order:

1. Reemski from Tummy Rumbles

2. My buddies from Here Comes the Food

3. The guys and gals at Eat, Show and Tell

4. Karen from Citrus and Candy

5. Shannon at Foodhax

6. Annie from Yes I want to see the Dessert Menu

Love,

NQN

xxx

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I always think of Iron Chef Chen Kenichi when I read or hear about Szechuan Cuisine (and why is it always replayed in my mind in that Iron Chef dubbed American accent?). For those who haven’t heard of it before, Szechuan Cuisine is a spicy style of Chinese cooking originating from the Sichuan province in China.

Szechuan peppercorns

One of the most common ingredients is the Szechuan peppercorn, a pinky brown peppercorn with a distinct lemony flavour to it. I bought a packet of them after the amazing Iron Chef dinner we attended and promptly lost them in the jumble that is my spice drawer. It was only when I found a recipe combining them with one of my favourite foods, Pork Belly that I was propelled into action to go in and retrieve them.

This was also a good time to Road Test the Scanpan baking dish that I got from the people at Kitchenware Direct to test. At last count I have 5 baking dishes, all in various states of abuse. Most of the abuse was inflicted by cooking roasts, those deliciously good meals that pay no mercy to your baking dish. So I was happy to road-test a good quality non-stick baking dish having thrown out many a cheaper non stick baking dish before.

This recipe was adapted from www.cuisine.com.au, and it was the first recipe I’ve tried from there and whilst it’s very good, the cooking time given was way off. It called for the 800g pork belly to be cooked at 200c for 1 hour. Had I done that, I would’ve ended up with a charred mess. What it needs is 10 minutes at 200c and then a turn down to 170c for another 40 minutes.

But when you do slice it up and eat it, all is forgiven, the pungent aroma of ginger, garlic, vinegar and soy combining to produce a mouth watering marinade permeating amongst the many layers of soft fat and tender meat. Sprinkling the meat with the Szechuan Salt and Pepper only serves to heighten the flavour of this dish with the lemony Szechuan pepper.

Baked on goo-not pretty

As for the Scanpan, there was a hideous crust of goo on it after it was baked but I’m very happy to report that no elbow grease was required to remove it. In fact after soaking for a minute it lifted right off. So this one’s a keeper…

Spotlessly clean after a little roast abuse

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